MATCH REACTION | Camilla Buchanan (NSL Rd 14)

Head Coach Camilla Buchanan was left wanting more, despite a positive display away at table-toppers Manchester Thunder.

Having suffered a heavy defeat last time they faced the Mancunians, Buchanan was pleased with plenty of what she saw, although she admitted that there was still more to come from her side.

“There are some great takeaways from the game, but we always want more. Last time we played them, the score blew out a bit, but there were lots of things in this one that were in our control and would have allowed us to challenge more towards the end. It’s a positive performance, but there is still so much more to come from this group.”

With Razia Quashie and Emma Thacker both unavailable, Buchanan was pleased to have the returning Vicki Oyesola back out on court for the full 60 minutes, as the Goal Keeper put in another storng showing.

“We’re really lucky to have Vicki back in the mix and back to full fitness. This one wasn’t going to be a game where there was lots of ball available to us, so we had to pick and choose our moments and make sure we didn’t pull the trigger too early. It was about being selective with the balls we tried to win. We did great with some of it, and I thought we were a bit unlucky at times with consistency on contacts, so we couldn’t challenge as much. We’ve got to adapt, and the players will be a bit disappointed, but overall, it’s a positive display.”

Mavs face Severn Stars this Friday in a crucial match if they are to have any hope of a late rally for a play-off place. Buchanan feels that her side are starting to find their groove and challenged her squad to put their gameplan out on the court for the full match in the remaning games.

“We’ve got to keep building. We’ve talked about the fact that we can’t have great moments if we don’t back them up. As much as the results haven’t been going our way, things have been starting to embed mentally and it’s just the execution to come. We want to put our game plan out on the court for longer and have more attention to detail and that will allow us to close the gap.”